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Jeannette Walls Quotes about Mom

All Jeannette Walls Quotes Children Dad Giving Luck Mom quotes Quality Writing
Mom always said people worried too much about their children. Suffering when you are young is good for you, she said. It immunized your body and your soul.

Mom always said people worried too much about their children. Suffering when you are young is good for you, she said. It immunized your body and your soul.

Jeannette Walls
Mom, Children, People
Jeannette Walls (2006). “The Glass Castle: A Memoir”, p.28, Simon and Schuster

I hate Erma," I told Mom... "You have to show compassion for her..." She added that you should never hate anyone, even your worst enemies. "Everyone has something good about them," she said. "You have to find the redeeming quality and love the person for that." "Oh yeah?" I said. "How about Hitler? What was his redeeming quality?" "Hitler loved dogs," Mom said without hesitation.

Jeannette Walls
Mom, Dog, Hate

She wore tight corsets to give her a teeny waist - I helped her lace them up - but they had the effect of causing her to faint. Mom called it the vapors and said it was a sign of her high breeding and delicate nature. I thought it was a sign that the corset made it hard to breathe.

Jeannette Walls
Mom, Giving, Vapor
Jeannette Walls (2010). “Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel”, p.18, Simon and Schuster

Since Mom wasn't exactly the most useful person in the world, one lesson I learned at an early age was how to get things done, and this was a source of both amazement and concern for Mom, who considered my behavior unladylike but also counted on me. "I never knew a girl to have such gumption," she'd say. "But I'm not too sure it's a good thing.

Jeannette Walls
Girl, Mom, Age

Mom always said people worried too much about their children. Suffering when you're young is good for you, she said. It immunized your body and your soul, and that was why she ignored us kids when we cried. Fussing over children who cry only encouraged them, she told us. That's positive reinforcement for negative behavior.

Jeannette Walls
Mom, Children, Kids
Jeannette Walls (2006). “The Glass Castle: A Memoir”, p.28, Simon and Schuster

She was developing what Mom called a bit of a sarcastic streak.

Jeannette Walls
Mom, Sarcastic, Streaks
Jeannette Walls (2009). “The Glass Castle: A Memoir”, p.151, Simon and Schuster

One time I saw a tiny Joshua tree sapling growing not too far from the old tree. I wanted to dig it up and replant it near our house. I told Mom that I would protect it from the wind and water it every day so that it could grow nice and tall and straight. Mom frowned at me. "You'd be destroying what makes it special," she said. "It's the Joshua tree's struggle that gives it its beauty.

Jeannette Walls
Mom, Nice, Struggle
Jeannette Walls (2009). “The Glass Castle: A Memoir”, p.38, Simon and Schuster

Mom told us we would have to go shoplifting. Isn't that a sin?" I asked Mom. Not exactly," Mom said. "God doesn't mind you bending the rules a little if you have a good reason. It's sort of like justifiable homicide. This is justifiable pilfering.

Jeannette Walls
Mom, Mind, Bending

Mom could say that in hindsight, but it seemed to me that when you were in the middle of something, it was awful hard to figure out what part of it was God's will and what wasn't.

Jeannette Walls
Mom, Awful, Hindsight
Jeannette Walls (2010). “Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel”, p.14, Simon and Schuster

Don't worry, God understands,' Mom said. 'He knows that your father is a cross we must bear.

Jeannette Walls
Mom, Father, Worry
Jeannette Walls (2009). “The Glass Castle: A Memoir”, p.105, Simon and Schuster

The way Mom saw it, women should let menfolk do the work because it made them feel more manly. That notion only made sense if you had a strong man willing to step up and get things done, and between Dad's gimp, Buster's elaborate excuses, and Apache's tendency to disappear, it was often up to me to keep the place from falling apart. But even when everyone was pitching in, we never got out from under all the work. I loved that ranch, though sometimes it did seem that instead of us owning the place, the place owned us.

Jeannette Walls
Mom, Strong, Sex

Mom also hinted a couple of times that it was good I was going to college, since with one failed marriage behind me, I 'd have trouble landing a good husband and would need something to fall back on. "A package that's been opened once doesn't have the same appeal".

Jeannette Walls
Mom, Couple, Husband
Jeannette Walls (2009). “Half Broke Horses: A True-Life Novel”, p.89, Simon and Schuster

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